SPONSORED ARTICLES

Two representatives from opposing families, human rights lawyer Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno and Ilocos Governor Imee Marcos, filed their certificates of candidacies for the Senate seat at the same time.

Imee is the daughter of late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Jr., while Diokno is the son of late senator Jose “Pepe” Diokno, who opposed the former’s father and was arrested during the dictatorship period.

Photos and videos circulated online showed Imee and Diokno filing their candidacies next to each other inside the Commission of Elections office in Intramuros in Manila on Tuesday, October 16.

Marcos versus Diokno

Diokno, who will be running with the opposing Liberal Party, told reporters that he advocates the improvement of the country’s justice system if he wins a seat in the upper chamber of the Congress.

Gov. Imee Marcos vows to end poverty. The Philippines' poverty incidence was at 52 percent in 1971, a year before Martial Law declaration and five years in to the term of Marcos. At the end of his rule, 59 percent of Filipinos were poor.ALSO FROM THE ARCHIVES: Philstar.com's #NewsLab special https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/war-on-memory

On September 21, Pepe, the late senator’s namesake, shared a 1983 documentary narrated by his grandfather titled “To Sing Our Own Song” as a reminder to the public of the human rights abuses committed during martial law.

Diokno, the founding dean of De La Salle University College of Law aligned with LP, along with former Quezon congressman Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III, as senatorial bets.

Similar to Diokno, Tañada is the grandson of late Senator Lorenzo Tañada, another martial law hero.

The human rights lawyer shared in an interview that the “corrupt” image of the legal profession started with the Marcos regime.

He understands the clamor for justice against crime and illegal drugs, Diokno adds, however, this cannot be achieved with a poor justice system.

Diokno, a University of the Philippines graduate, took after his father’s steps in leading the Free Legal Assistance Group. The FLAG is an organization dedicated into helping victims of the dark regime, for 30 years.

Throughout his career, he won cases for Filipinos in all walks of life. He had also campaigned against extrajudicial killings and death penalty. —Artwork by Uela Altar-Badayos